Charles of Anjou

Charles of Anjou (21 March 1226-7 January 1285) was the King of Naples and Sicily from 6 January 1266 to 7 January 1285, succeeding Manfred of Sicily and preceding Pero III of Aragon (on Sicily) and Charles II of Naples (on Naples).

Biography
Charles was born on 21 March 1226 to Louis VIII of France and Blanche of Castile, coming from the Catholic French House of Anjou. In 1248 Charles took part in the Seventh Crusade to Egypt, and in November 1252 Pope Innocent IV sent envoys to Charles to offer him control of Sicily if he could seize it from Conrad IV of Germany (Richard of Germany refused this offer). However, King Louis forbade the idea outright, and after the War of the Flemish Succession he was offered the County of Hainault, but Louis again disapproved.

In 1258, Manfred of Sicily (the son of Frederick II of Germany) usurped the throne of Sicily, taking it over from the boy Conradin. Now, the Papal States faced an able military commander as an enemy and not a child, so Pope Urban IV called on Charles to seize Sicily for himself. Manfred advanced on the Papal States and Urban died in October 1264 while fleeing from Manfred, and the new Pope Clement IV supported Charles' claim. On 23 May 1265 Charles entered Rome and was crowned King of Sicily, and on 26 February 1266 Charles' army of Angevins, French, and mercenaries met Manfred's army of Sicilians and Saracen mercenaries at the Battle of Benevento. Manfred was killed in the thick of the fighting, and Charles became the master of Sicily. In September 1267 Conradin set out to reclaim Sicily for the House of Hohenstaufen, entering Rome. However, the 23 August 1268 Battle of Tagliacozzo was an Angevin victory over the Germans, and on 29 October 1268 Conradin was beheaded at the age of 16 for treason. In 1270, Charles put down the revolt in Sicily.

In February 1271, Charles invaded the Byzantine Empire and conquered Durazzo in Albania. He soon controlled much of the Albanian interior, but in March Pope Gregory X halted his advance, as he wanted to reconcile Catholicism and Orthodox Christianity and begin a new crusade. On 18 March 1277 Charles bought Maria of Antioch's claims on the Kingdom of Jerusalem and he sent Roger of San Severino to become the new bailiff, ousting Balian of Arsuf. In 1274, Charles resumed his Albanian campaign, seizing Berat and Butrinto before campaigning in Euboea and the Peloponnese. On 23 March 1281 Pope Martin IV became pope and supported Charles' plans to restore the Latin Empire, and despite some setbacks, he prepared 400 ships and 27,000 knights to go on a crusade against Constantinople in the spring of 1282.

Unfortunately for him, Pere III of Aragon incited a rebellion in Sicily, beginning the War of the Sicilian Vespers. The Sicilian navy was defeated at the Battle of Malta, and they proceeded to lose at the Gulf of Naples and Les Formigues in 1284. On his death, Charles left his domains to his son Charles II of Naples, while Sicily remained in the hands of Pere III.